1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to inkjet printing, and more specifically to inkjet printing utilizing conductive ink deposition to fabricate conductive patterns upon a filtered substrate.
2. Background of the Invention
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags have been developed and envisioned to replace the bar code as the preeminent future identification tool. Present day methods of manufacturing RFID antennae include costly plating and etching processes similar to current semiconductor device manufacturing techniques.
RFID is an automatic identification technology whereby digital data encoded in an RFID tag or “smart label” is captured by a reader using radio waves and, therefore, RFID does not require the tag or label to be visually apparent in order to read its stored data. An RFID system consists of a tag, which is made up of a microchip with an antenna, and a reader with an antenna. The reader sends out electromagnetic waves and the tag antenna is tuned to receive these waves and transmit stored data on the microchip to the reader. RFID tags are either “passive” (no battery) or “active” (self-powered by a battery), with a passive RFID tag drawing power from an electromagnetic field created by the reader to power the microchip's circuits. The microchip then modulates the waves and sends the waves back to the reader where the reader converts the new waves into digital data. RFID tags can be read-only (stored data can be read but not changed), read/write (stored data can be altered or re-written), or a combination, in which some data is permanently stored while other memory is left accessible for later encoding and updates.
Therefore, there remains a need in the art for more widespread use of RFID tags, as well as techniques, and devices produced from such techniques, that reduce the costs associated with RFID tag fabrication. In addition, there is a need in the art for increased quality control and consistency between devices and device subsets produced for RFID applications.